Devils (9-3) win twice, earn state ranking

January 07, 2004|By Mike Dunn, Sports Editor

GAYLORD - The Gaylord hockey team received an added bonus after another winning weekend at the Sportsplex. The Blue Devils, after improving to 9-3 overall and 3-0 in the Big North Conference with a 2-1 victory on Friday night against Petoskey and a 6-1 triumph over highly regarded Grandville on Saturday night, found out Monday that they are the 10th-ranked Div. III team in the state.

The state ranking is the fruit of disciplined play by Gaylord this season. The Petoskey game marked the fifth one-goal win for the Blue Devils. It is a credit to the coaching of Bill Touroo and his staff, the consistently strong play of junior Greg Long in the nets, the continual maturing of a young defense led by senior captain Brian Campbell, and the ability of the forwards to move the puck and score at crucial times.

"We still have some areas where we need to improve, but we're playing with confidence right now and we're doing what we have to do to win," Touroo said following the tight triumph over a determined Petoskey squad.

"Brodie made a perfect pass and I was able to backhand it in," LeBlanc said. "At the time, we needed a score and I was hoping it would be enough."

Joe St. John scored Gaylord's initial goal in the contest, accepting a nice feed from Campbell. Northman defender Luke Wilhelm scored on a slapshot from the point for the visitors. It was the only shot to beat Long, who was once again up to the task in a tense affair that went to the wire.

"We knew Petoskey would come to play," Touroo said. "They play very good positional hockey and they don't beat themselves. This is just the kind of game we expected with them."

€ Gaylord 6, Grandville 1: Grandville came to town with just one loss, but met a Gaylord team that was functioning on all cylinders. St. John scored a hat trick to lead the offense. Junior Jordan Walsh also tallied, as did senior Tom Pratt and Ford. Long was between the pipes again and played at his usual high level. "Greg has been oustanding. I don't know how he could be any hotter than he is right now," Touroo said.